PLANT hunter/horticulturalist Tom Hart Dyke and former Blue Peter and Sky Sports presenter Simon Thomas are the keynote speakers at this autumn’s Federation meeting.
The Surrey Serenaders choir was started in 2013 by the then Federation chairman Elizabeth Fisher with the aim of entering Singing for Joy, the NFWI Centenary Choir Competition.
The NFWI commissioned Jonathan Willcocks to write a song, Singing for Joy, for all choirs to perform during the heats and the final of the competition and appointed him as a judge.
Surrey Serenaders, having found a pianist and music director, started to rehearse and enter local competitions. They won their heat at Dorking Halls and while they did not win the final, held in Birmingham, they came second – along with the other five choirs.
The ladies decided to continue with the choir because of the health benefits as well as the fun and friendship they got out of it. They are now available to entertain WIs and other groups by appointment; they also enter competitions and occasionally stage fund-raising events. Upcoming fund-raising events will be publicised in SWIN and on social media and can be viewed on the website at: Interest Group Events.
Rehearsals are held almost every other Saturday throughout the year in Albury Village Hall, GU5 9AD and anyone is welcome to join, WI member or not. All members pay a set charge per term to go towards the cost of hall hire, the music director and the accompanist.
Why not attend a rehearsal without commitment? A trial session is free.
Rehearsals start at 10am and end at 12.30pm.